A Sydney man was fined $5000 and ordered to pay $5000 in costs after being found guilty of committing five abalone offences.
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The charges relating to the poaching of 74 abalone at Bogola Headland south of Narooma.
Luke Short, 28, of Eastwood, pleaded not guilty in Narooma Local Court on Thursday, February 15, to all charges.
He was found guilty of possessing more than the bag limit, possessing prohibited-size fish, possessing shucked abalone, harming an animal in a sanctuary zone and cleaning fish in a sanctuary zone.
NSW Department of Primary Industries Fisheries officers gave evidence about how they located Mr Short and a bag full of shucked abalone on November 3, 2015.
He was found during a routine patrol of the headland, which is often targeted by poachers despite being in a sanctuary zone of the Batemans Marine Park.
The Fisheries officers located the bag of shucked abalone next to Mr Short’s vehicle.
Officers then discovered the shells of 68 abalone in shallow water on the cliffs below that they deemed had just been shucked.
Mr Short was living on Wallaga Lake Road at the time of the offence and worked as a supervisor for a highway guardrail company.
During questioning by Fisheries solicitors from Sydney, he revealed that he decided to go diving after work with a work colleague.
He went to the St Vincent de Paul opp shop to purchase diving gear and a diving knife before heading out to Bogola Headland with his colleague.
He claimed he was “hopeless at diving” and exited the water a short time later without taking any abalone.
He also denied seeing his diving buddy take any abalone or lobsters.
When questioned that he was seen by Fisheries officers carrying a heavy hessian bag out of the water, he claimed he had rocks in the bag to act as a weight belt.
His defence solicitor questioned Fisheries officers about whether anyone else could have been on the headland at the time.
His solicitor also told the magistrate that Mr Short was struggling financially and was supporting two children, including his blind, autistic four-year-old son.
Magistrate Doug Dick weighed up both arguments.
He decided to convict Mr Short on all five charges, fining him $1000 for each charge, even though he could have been fined a total of $60,000.
He was also ordered to pay $5000 in costs, despite Fisheries solicitors asking for $10,000.
Magistrate Dick said Mr Short had “painted himself into a corner” by denying the charges and so he had no choice but to hand down the conviction and fines.
“Poaching is illegal and is having a tremendous impact on the South Coast and there are a number of mechanisms put in place to deter people,” he said.
“The resource is getting depleted to the point of extinction.”
